Low profile overbalanced backwater valve

ABSTRACT

A backwater valve has a hollow valve body with an inlet defined by a vertical surface, an outlet, and a bottom. A pivoting valve member is pivotally movable about a pivot axis between a normally open position along the bottom of the valve body and a closed, vertical position sealing the inlet. The valve member has a hinge end, the pivot axis being positioned at the hinge end. An overbalancing member carried by the valve member biases the float toward the closed position. The overbalancing member comprises at least one of a counterweight and a magnetic element. The overbalancing member is positioned at the hinge end and spaced from the pivot axis such that the overbalancing member is vertically above the pivot axis when the valve member is in the open position and horizontally over from the pivot axis when the valve member is in the closed position.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.14/520131, filed Oct. 21, 2014, of which is incorporated herein byreference.

FIELD

The present invention relates to a backwater valve used to prevent abackflow of sewage into a home.

BACKGROUND

U.S. Pat. No. 5,406,972 (Coscarella et al.) relates to a backwater valvewhich prevents a backflow of sewage into a home. This backwater valveneeds a minimum amount of clearance space. As a result, there are someinstallations for which the valve is not suited because there isinsufficient clearance space.

SUMMARY

According to an aspect, a backwater valve comprises a hollow valve bodyhaving an inlet defined by a vertical surface, an outlet, and a bottom.A pivoting valve member is pivotally movable about a pivot axis betweena normally open position along the bottom of the valve body and aclosed, vertical position sealing the inlet. The valve member has aperipheral edge comprising a hinge end, a remote end, and opposed sides,the pivot axis being positioned at the hinge end. An overbalancingmember carried by the valve member biases the float toward the closedposition when in the closed position. The overbalancing member comprisesat least one of a counterweight and a magnetic element. Theoverbalancing member is positioned at the hinge end and spaced from thepivot axis such that the overbalancing member is vertically above thepivot axis when the valve member is in the open position andhorizontally over from the pivot axis when the valve member is in theclosed position.

According to another aspect, the overbalancing member is a magneticelement and the valve body comprises a second magnetic element, where atleast one of the magnetic element and the second magnetic element ismagnetized.

According to another aspect, the overbalancing member is acounterweight.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

These and other features will become more apparent from the followingdescription in which reference is made to the appended drawings, thedrawings are for the purpose of illustration only and are not intendedto in any way limit the scope of the invention to the particularembodiment or embodiments shown, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a side elevation view in section of a low profile backwatervalve.

FIG. 2 is a top plan view in section of the low profile backwater valve.

FIG. 3 is a top plan view of a variation of the low profile backwatervalve with the valve body removed.

FIG. 4 is a side elevation view of a further variation of the lowprofile backwater valve.

FIG. 5 is a side elevation view in section of a further variation of thelow profile backwater valve.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a variation of a low profile backwatervalve.

FIG. 7 is an exploded perspective view of the low profile backwatervalve in FIG. 6.

FIGS. 8-10 show the backwater valve moving from the closed position tothe open position.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

A low profile backwater valve generally identified by reference numeral10 will now be described with reference to FIGS. 1-7.

Structure and Relationship of Parts:

Referring to FIG. 1, backwater valve 10 has a hollow valve body 12having an inlet 14, an outlet 16, and a bottom 18. A pivoting valvemember 20 is pivotally movable between a normally open position alongbottom 18 of valve body 12 and a closed position sealing inlet 14. Valvemember 20 has a hinge end 22, a remote end 24, and opposed sides 26.

In the example depicted in FIGS. 1-7, backwater valve 10 is a lowprofile backwater valve and this is described below. It will beunderstood that the overbalancing element depicted in FIGS. 6 and 7 maybe applied to other types of backwater valves as well. However, it hasbeen found that low profile backwater valve 10 of the type depicted areparticularly susceptible to “flutter,” where changes in the backflow maycause valve member 20 to open prematurely.

A float 28 is positioned as an appendage along at least one opposed side26 of valve body 12. Referring to FIG. 2, floats 28 are preferablypositioned along both sides 26. Float 28 adds buoyancy to valve member20, such that valve member 20 floats into the closed position in thepresence of a backflow. Valve member 20 may be made from buoyantmaterial itself, in which case it may not be necessary to provide floats28. However, it may be desired to enhance the buoyancy of valve member20 by including other floats. By placing floats 28 on the side, itenables valve member 20 to be designed with a lower profile within valvebody 12 than would otherwise be possible. Referring to FIG. 1, in someembodiments, a locking means, such as a locking member 33 as shown, maybe provided to lock valve member 20 into the closed position. In thedepicted embodiment, locking member 33 is inserted over valve member 20in the closed position and engages a pin 34 to hold it in position.Referring again to FIG. 1, the portion of float 28 at remote end 24 ofvalve member 20 preferably defines an inclined plane 30, such that theforce of a backflow striking inclined plane 30 lifts valve member 20toward the closed position. Referring to FIG. 5, inclined plane 30 mayalso be independent of float 28. For example, inclined plane 30 may bean outward extension of, or otherwise attached to valve member 20, withfloats either positioned away from inclined plane 30 as shown, or notincluded on sides 26 of valve member 20. In some embodiments, wherevalve member 20 is sufficiently buoyant, it may not be necessary toinclude floats 28.

It has been found that debris and other contaminants can causedifficulties in the operation of backwater valve 10. To counter this,certain features may be used. Referring to FIG. 3, baffles 32 may extendvertically from bottom 18 of valve body 12 to define flow channels 35directing flow toward float 28. Referring to FIG. 4, a hose coupling 36may be provided on valve body 12 with a passage indicated by arrows 38to flush underneath valve member 20 to remove debris that might collectbetween valve member 20 and bottom 18 of valve body 12. Referring toFIG. 3, baffles or dams 37 extend vertically from the bottom of thevalve body protecting the hinge end of the valve member fromcontamination. Alternatively, referring to FIG. 5, baffles 37 may extendfrom the bottom of valve body 20. In addition to baffles 32 and 37,valve member 20 may carry a seal 42 at remote end 24 to help prevent anydebris carried by water from flowing under valve member 20. Referring toFIG. 4, valve body 12 may also have a transparent top 40 to facilitatevisual inspection.

Operation:

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, low profile backwater valve 10 is installedto allow water to flow from inlet 14 to outlet 16. If the flow of waterreverses to flow from outlet 16 to inlet 14, the flow is directed bybaffles 32 toward inclined plane 30 on float 28. The flow against plane30, as well as the buoyancy of floats 28, causes valve member 20 to riseand ultimately close to prevent flow out of inlet 14. The actualcombination of these forces that closes valve member 20 will depend onthe rate of flow of backwater. For example, if the rate of flow is high,the force of impact on inclined plane 30 may be sufficient to causevalve member 20 to close, or merely enough to lift valve member 20partially. If the rate of flow is slower, the buoyancy of valve member20 will cause valve member 20 to close.

Referring to FIG. 3, bottom 18 is contoured and provided with baffles 32to direct the flow of water to close valve member 20 as well as baffles37 to allow water that may carry debris and contaminants, such as dirt,to drain away from valve member 20 and hinge end 22. This helps preventvalve member 20 from accumulating debris between valve member 20 andbottom 18, or by causing hinge end 22 to become immobilized. Referringto FIG. 4, transparent top 40 allows a visual inspection of backwatervalve 10. If it becomes apparent from a visual inspection or otherwisethat valve member 20 is not operating properly, hose coupling 36 allowsa cleaning fluid to be flushed through to clean backwater valve 10.

Referring to FIGS. 6 and 7, in a preferred embodiment valve member 20 isprovided with additional support to remain in the closed position. Thismay be done by providing an overbalancing element 44, such as acounterweight or magnet, to help maintain valve member 20 in the closedposition until sufficient pressure from the regular flow has beenachieved and the backwater flow has receded. Overbalancing element 44may be positioned on one side of valve member 20 or both sides of valvemember 20. Valve member 20 is shown in a closed position in FIGS. 6 and7. Referring to FIGS. 8, 9, and 10, valve member 20′ is shown movingbetween the closed position in FIG. 8 and the open position in FIG. 10.

In one embodiment, overbalancing element 44 may be a counter weight,such that the additional weight maintains valve member 20 in the closedposition. As can be seen, overbalancing element 44 is positioned at thehinge end 22 of valve member 20 and spaced from the pivot axis 23 suchthat, in the closed position, counterweight 44 moves along a path thatis initially vertical or substantially vertical, to maximize the amountpressure required to lift counterweight 44 as valve member 20 pivots tothe open position and that, in the open position, it is directly abovepivot axis 23, so that counterweight 44 initially moves horizontally tominimize the amount of upward force required to move valve member 20 tothe closed position.

In another embodiment, overbalancing element 44 may be a magneticelement carried by valve member 20 that is magnetically attracted to asecond magnetic element 48 carried by valve body 12. At least one ofmagnetic element 44 and second magnetic element 48 is magnetic and theother may be ferrous. To increase the attraction, both elements 44 and48 may be magnetic with opposite poles facing the other. Overbalancingelement 44 is preferably positioned in the same general position as inthe embodiment that involves a counterweight as overbalancing element 44may increase the weight and also act as a counterweight. In addition,the spacing of magnet is element 44 from pivot axis 23 acts as a leverto increase the effect of the magnetic attraction between magneticelement 44 and second magnetic element 48. Depending on the size andtype of magnetic material, magnetic element 44 may be heavy enough thatit also acts as a counterweight. Magnetic element 44 engages secondmagnetic element 48 near hinge end 22 of valve member 20 when valvemember 20 is in a closed position.

In this patent document, the word “comprising” is used in itsnon-limiting sense to mean that items following the word are included,but items not specifically mentioned are not excluded. A reference to anelement by the indefinite article “a” does not exclude the possibilitythat more than one of the element is present, unless the context clearlyrequires that there be one and only one of the elements.

The scope of the following claims should not be limited by the preferredembodiments set forth in the examples above and in the drawings, butshould be given the broadest interpretation consistent with thedescription as a whole.

1. A backwater valve, comprising: a hollow valve body having an inletdefined by a vertical surface, an outlet, and a bottom; a pivoting valvemember pivotally movable about a pivot axis that is positioned below theinlet between a normally open position along the bottom of the valvebody and a closed, vertical position sealing the inlet, the pivotingvalve member having a peripheral edge comprising a hinge end, a remoteend, and opposed sides, the pivot axis being positioned at the hingeend, the pivoting valve member comprising a float; and a first magneticelement carried by the pivoting valve member and a second magneticelement attached to the hollow valve body adjacent to the inlet, suchthat, as the pivoting valve member approaches the closed position, thefirst magnetic element is magnetically attracted toward the secondmagnetic element to bias the pivoting valve member toward the closedposition and to maintain the pivoting valve member in the closedposition until sufficient pressure is applied from the inlet to thepivoting valve member to open the valve member.
 2. The backwater valveof claim 1, wherein one of the first magnetic element and the secondmagnetic element is magnetized and the other of the first magneticelement and the second magnetic element is ferrous.
 3. The backwatervalve of claim 1, wherein each of the first magnetic element and thesecond magnetic element are magnetized and with opposite poles facingthe other along a travel path of the pivoting valve member.